September 22, 2006

Yes, I'd do it again! Despite the long hours of preparation, huge expenses, frustration and exhaustion, I'd make the trip again. There's something about seeing a cross section of the country on a Vespa that you couldn't get from a car. That combined with the challenge of riding a scooter that wasn't designed for long trips and the competitive aspect of a "cannonball run" made for an incredible experience.

The Other Riders I can't say enough good things about the other riders in the group. We were a diverse group that ranged in age from early 20's to 70. 32 men and 3 women from all over the US (and one from Canada). We all got along very well with very few exceptions. It was just a great group of people that would do a lot for each other. Congratulations to the winners Stan, Patrick Owen and Ashrat!

How I Placed Even though I had a DNF on a few days I had enough points to finish second overall in my class. I had four first-place stage finishes and one second.

How the Scooter Held Up The little Vespa LX 150 ran really well. With exception of the after-market variator and Kevlar Belt that I replaced, everything worked flawlessly. The stock Pirelli rear-tire wore out in the first 1300 miles but the replacement Michelins are still in good shape. The Tour-Tank auxilary gas tank worked well and saved me lots of time and kept me from being stranded.

Sure a Vespa GTS 250 would have been an easier and faster bike to ride across the country but it also would have been less of a challenge. I'm happy with my choice of the ride.

How I Held Up Two things: a bike racing past and long hours in the car for work. Both of these helped me with the long hours in the saddle. First of all, the wider scooter seat is much more comfortable than the hard bike seat that, for all I know has made me sterile. Driving a car 45,000 miles a year prepared me for the long boring parts of the ride. I didn't eat or drink much during the riding part. This was after all a competition. That helped me with my placing but I lost about 6 pounds a result. I

Big Thanks! I can't thank everyone involved in organizing the Cannonball enough. Their hard work allowed me to have this incredible experience. Also, I owe a big thank you to the support vehicle drivers, Libby, Heather, Devon and Jim.

A huge thank you is owed to Doug Day and everyone at Vespa Hartford/Scooter Centrale for all of their help and sponsorship of my Cannonball Run. They are the best scooter shop in New England period.

Also, thanks for Scott and everyone at Vespa Des Moines for helping getting me back on the road when I needed a part in a hurry.

September 21, 2006

Cold and foggy!Today’s ride started out pretty fast in very thick fog.Traffic on two-lane roads kept the faster 15 of the group from breaking up for the first 30 or so miles.Finally some up-hill passing separated the men (and Ashrat) from the boys.Since my LX was a little slower on the uphill, I was left behind for a while…to make things worse, the bus started picked up kids.Crap!Thosesnotty kids were real-freaking-funny when they were making faces at me at me while I waited for their friends to cross the street and get on the bus! Finally I had a chance to get around the bus. 30 miles later, some traffic and construction allowed me to catch up with a few of the riders in the top 10. It didn't take long before a few hill and gas stops by other riders left me riding alone of most of the trip.

The thick fog went on for at least 100 miles.Occasionally we’d climb above it but quickly drop back down. The roads were hilly and twisty for most of the 370 miles.The rural Pennsylvania Farm country was a nice change of pace from the endless miles flat landscape though the Midwest.The final 10 or so miles through the very urban New Jersey Suburbs was an even greater contast to the sparsely populated area of the country that most of our 3000 mile route followed.

I rode the Vespa LX as hard today as any other and again, she ran perfectly. She cruised along nicely at 60 to 67 on flats and maxed out at about 75 on the down-grades. Not a single problem.

I pulled into today's finish in 7th place but was beat to the sign-in sheet by Jim T on a Big Ruckus.I was taking my time getting off the bike, he pulled in and took advantage of the opportunity.I tried to tackle him but, he has quite a bit of size on me.The finish was still good enough to be first in my class, again only finishing behind 250cc bikes.I was seven places and one hour ahead of the next finisher in the under-200cc class.

September 17, 2006

The ride started off in Cleveland which meant one stoplight after another for 25 miles. When things oppened up, we had a very-fast sunnny ride through rural north-western Pennsylvania, not too far from where I grew up.

The good news is, the short ride allowed me and my kitted Vespa LX 150 to have our best overall finish yet. I rode it hard and finished 6th. I even finished ahead of some of the 250cc scooters. The bad news is there is a Vespa GT200 in my class, ridden by Owen, which I realized today is way faster than my LX. He rode very well today and kept up with the top-5 250cc's today.

On past days, I've managed to finsh well in my class (on the days that I did finish) by simply not stopping. My auxillary gas tank and bladder training from driving for work so much (If I could, I'd just pee in a cup while I'm riding) allows me to make up time while faster bikes are stopped. Sort of a tortoise and hare thing. Because the ride was so short, not one modern bike had to stop for gas.

Some riders had "run ins" with local good ole boys. Ash was hit with an apple core thrown from a pick up. JD was hit with flesh from ground hog road-kill that a driver in front of him intentionally swerved to hit.

September 16, 2006

Back in action! After yesterday's repairs, I started the ride out easy today, drafting the top stock-Vespa P200 in the pack for the first 80 miles. After he stopped stopped for gas I picked up the pace and continued on solo for the next 250 miles. I rode easier than I did earlier in week, avoiding riding at full throttle unless I was passing a tractor-trailer into oncoming trafiic (just kidding mom). Cruising speed was a comfortable 60-65 miles an hour with top speed of 70+

The ride through Ohio and Indiana was flat and fast. It's good to see trees again after 2 days of the plains. Today's leg ended at Pride of Cleveland Scooters on 25th street. The shop welcomed us with pizza and beer. Several riders used their facilities to replace tires, change oil and rebuild 2-stroke engines.

The route was fairly easy to navigate. I only took one wrong turn but was able to correct my mistake within a half mile. I managed to finish 1st in my class and ninth overall, only being beat by riders in the 250cc automatic (modern) class. So during this cannonball, I've either "DNF'd" or won the class on this cannonball. For those of you who knew me when I was mountain bike racing, this may sound familiar. http://www.scootercannonball.com/06Updates.htm

With the modifications on my 150cc Vespa LX, it's faster than the stock P200's in the pack but can't keep up with the big 250cc scooters and modified P200's. This is why I end up riding solo shortly into the ride. Gas breaks and wrong turns usually get me seperated from the other bikes in my class.

Controversy. There was a protest among the "250 cruisers" in the front of the pack today. Apparently, the first three riders went off the set route and jumped on the interstate avoiding traffic lights and slow traffic. Needless to say the number 4 and 5 finishers in that class were quite unhappy.

The Repairs (for the scooterists reading this) I have gone back to a stock variator and belt on the LX to replace the Malossi and Polini parts. I can't tell a difference in performance with the stock variator and it seems to be riding well. Obviously, the Malossi 190 kit and TiForce pipe have made huge improvements. However, I don't know that these other 2 upgrades are worth the investments. The theory is that the variator damage caused the belt the shred after only 1200 miles.

Tomorrow we have a 154 mile sprint to Warren, PA. Finally, we get to sleep in after several nights of very little rest time.

I'm back in thanks to Scott at Vespa Des Moines. He took a variator from a bike on the showroom floor to get me back on the road. The stock one seem to running better that the aftermarket one I had installed.

I'm tired, I arrived in Merriville, IA very late so I gotta keep this short.

September 15, 2006

Since my part was in Nebraska at the next stop, I had to load my bike into the sag wagon for a long 532 mile trip behind of the the scooters.

We left with 2 bikes on the trailer and finished with 4 with another loaded into a local-guys pickup. The other sag was full with 2 scooters by the end of the day also. 9 bikes were out for the day.

By the end of the day there were 6 of us in a very smelly SUV riding slowly at the end of the pack waiting for all the breakdowns.

When we finally got to the hotel, it was 12:30 am and the front desk was closed. My parts were locked up in the office. There were no less than 6 bikes being worked on at 1:00 am. I prepped my bike to have it ready to reassemble in the morning so I could jump back in.....

September 14, 2006

Got 8 miles and shredded the belt. Having a replacement sent to Nebraska. I guess I've been riding this thing too hard.

2 days in the sag wagon Coming up. I'll be working on my bike until late at night after getting in late on the support vehicles. I should have the bike running Thursday morning. I'll have back off a bit to make sure I make it the rest of the way.

September 13, 2006

We left promptly at 7:00am with temperatures in the 40's again. The 250cc Automatics and a few of the Kitted P200's pulled away quickly. My bike rides fairly close to a few bikes, a stock P200, a kitted Vespa small-frame and and a kitted ET-4. But after the first 100 miles I didn't see another rider for the rest of the day.

The Scooter rode well again and didn't lose two much power due to the higher elevations. Altitude has more effect on the 2 stroke scooters and really slowed them down today. The big 4-stroke scooters took the top 12 places overall.

I took 2 wrong turns and rode an extra 20 miles as a result. Still I managed to come in first again in my class. My top competitor, Mike from Sana Jose on the Kited ET4 did not finish due to a mechanical problem. This ride is really testing the limits of the vintage and small-engine scooters. There were 6 bikes on the sag wagon today.

September 12, 2006

At 7:00 am on Sunday, September 10th, the Cannonball was on it's way. It was immediately apparent that this thing was going to be a race for most of the riders.

It was foggy and in the 40S. The initial 30 miles of roads were twisty and narrow. The 250 Automatics and P200S were all up front. My 187 cc Lx and the 187cc ET manged to keep up for a while. Once the roads opened up and straightened out the field separated.

It wasn't long until people started taking wrong turns, myself included. Most of us have notes about the route attached to our bike in one way or another. I wrote mine on tape and stuck it on the "dash." I had to pull out the map several times and rode an extra 10 miles because of a wrong turn.

Somewhere, near Salem, OR, while trying to keep up with a very fast, kitted p200 I ran a red light. Of course there was a cop right there. I was fortunate enough to get away with a warning but lost precious time.

The bike runs well. It will hit 70mph on flats and its cruises along nicely at 65mph. The auxiliary fuel tank also worked and allowed me to make the 360 mile ride at full throttle with only one fill up.

The route ended in John Day Oregon. The ride took us over mountains through thick conifer forests and lava fields and ended in the high desert. I wanted to stop and take more pictures but after all, this is a Cannonball run.

I finished the day in 15th. I believe I was first in the under 200cc-auto class I'll verify this tomorrow.

A few others were less fortunate. At least 3 others had to be picked up by the sag-wagon due to mechanical failure. The rules states that if they're bikes aren't ready to ride after 2 days they're disqualified.

I shipped my scooter to Portland a week before the start of the Cannonball. It arrived safely and in one piece. I flew into Portland then went to the Forward Air shipping terminal, unpacked my scooter, added and gas and rode it in to town. The next day, Saturday, I made the 100 mile journey to Pacific City with a few other riders for the start of the Cannonball on Sunday.